Classical Studies Support

I’m afraid that this week I really don’t know what’s going on in the wonderful world of Classics, because I’ve barely had a chance to switch on my computer.

On Wednesday I had a long meeting in Milton Keynes. Now, spending the day in MK is not a trivial undertaking for me: it involves many modes of transport, long hours of travel and usually at least one overnight stay. And because staying in MK is not always thrilling (or even useful, since the wifi near campus is awful and the phone reception almost non-existent), I decided this time to shift my overnight stays to nearby London.

There’s a lot more scope for adventure in London.

 

 

I didn’t have much spare time, but I made the most of it. I spend a lovely afternoon trying on Roman jewellery and talking antiquities in Mayfair, wore my Crowley glasses in Berkeley Square, got appallingly lost (and drenched) in a thunderstorm somewhere around Fitzrovia, drank far too much Aperol (turns out it’s rather nice) in Bloomsbury, and had coffee in the exclusive setting of the British Museum Members’ Room, thanks to a fabulous OU MA student who talked the staff into letting me in. I came away with lots of photos of sculpture for A111 tutorials, plenty of stuff to write about for this website (expect a few posts over the next couple of days), and all kinds of crazy ideas for future events.

I also came away with a pile of MA dissertations: 23 in total, at around 12,000 words each, which I have 10 days to mark. And that’s on top of six modules starting tomorrow.  Also I keep falling asleep sitting up, which really isn’t helping with the other problems. So my crazy ideas may have to wait: and I may be even slower to answer emails than usual for a couple of weeks. But bear with me… soon I’ll be back to what passes for ‘normal’ in my strange corner of the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week’s links from around the Classical Internet

 

 

News

Asterix coin – Bleeding Cool

Caligula’s ring for sale…? – The Daily Mail

Lucretia painting to be sold – The Art Newspaper 

Myths and stars – The Independent

Roman fort under Exeter bus station – The Guardian

Hecuba review – The Irish Times

September newsletter – Hellene Travel

 

 

Comment and opinion

The archaeology of video games – BBC Future 

Pompeian inscription – Live Science 

The brothels of Pompeii – History Today

Invented scripts in computer games – The CREWS Project

Greek and Roman nit-picking – The Recipes Project 

Toto’s Africa in Latin – In Medias Res 

Calling Dr. Toga – OU Classical Studies Blog

Ovid’s Ibis – Washington University in St. Louis 

Roman infographics – Hyperallergic 

Busts of the Trumpian Empire – The Nib 

Pan and the goat – A Don’s Life

Greek and Roman leadership – Forbes

 

 

Podcasts, video and other media

Roman cheesecake – Historical Italian Cooking 

A day in the life of a Celtic Druid – TED-Ed 

The love letters of Winckelmann – Coffee and Circuses 

The Teutoburg Forest – Podcast on Germany

Women’s dress and representation – The Partial Historians

Being an Epicurean – Big Think 

Belief, ritual and society – The Iris 

 

 

Other stuff

Living Latin at UCL – The Classics Library 

Which character from the Odyssey are you? [apparently I’m Penelope – not sure how I feel about that…] – Southbank Centre